SSANU Issues 14-Day Ultimatum as NUT Presses for Teachers' Salary Scale

Two major education unions are pressing the Federal Government over pay. The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) has set a 14-day deadline for the release of funds and the payment of arrears under its 2026 agreement. The National Union of Teachers (NUT) used World Teachers' Day to demand that a salary scale approved four years ago finally be implemented.

SSANU issued the ultimatum at the end of its 56th National Executive Council meeting at the University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom State. The union demanded immediate payment of arrears under the CONTTA salary structure from January 1, 2026, together with two months' salaries withheld during the 2022 industrial action and one year of arrears from the 25 and 35 per cent salary increases. It also called for the agreement to be fully implemented in state-owned universities, warning against unequal treatment of workers across the system. 

If the government fails to comply within 14 days, SSANU says it will resume a total, comprehensive and indefinite strike without further notice. 

SSANU's National President, Mohammed Ibrahim, said implementation of the 2026 agreement has started in some universities but remains incomplete in others, which he blamed on funding and administrative challenges. He noted that the agreement took effect on January 1, 2026, although it was formally signed on June 29, 2026. The union maintains that the financial obligations from the effective date remain outstanding and must be addressed. 

Report claims that the Minister of Education has moved to avert a strike, and that releasing the promised funds before the 14 days expire would defuse the situation. The union's position, as reported, is that otherwise its ultimatum stands. 

Speaking at Eagle Square in Abuja on Monday, the NUT's National Deputy President, Kizito Kalu, delivered the 2026 World Teachers' Day address and said the special salary scale for basic and secondary school teachers had yet to be implemented. The scale was approved in 2022 under former President Muhammadu Buhari, alongside other welfare measures. Mr Kalu said four years on, implementation has not commenced.

The union also called for better working conditions, saying teachers cannot perform at their best amid overcrowded classrooms, inadequate furniture and insufficient teaching materials. It said there is an acute shortage of teachers in many states because some governments have not recruited teachers for years, and urged governments to hire enough qualified teachers and offer incentives to keep them in the profession. 

At the World Teachers' Day commemoration and the President's Teachers' and Schools' Excellence Awards ceremony in Abuja, Education Minister Dr Tunji Alausa thanked teachers across the federation and renewed the government's resolve to protect the dignity of teaching. 

If the 14 days are counted from the October 5 announcement, SSANU's deadline falls around October 19, by 247NewsCheck's own calculation. 247NewsCheck earlier reported SSANU's concerns over incomplete implementation of the 2026 agreement, and will continue to follow both the union's deadline and the teachers' salary scale demand.

Source and attribution: This 247NewsCheck report is based on union statements and reports from Nigerian news outlets, including Vanguard, Leadership, The Trumpet, allAfrica and Voice of Nigeria. The positions described belong to SSANU, the NUT and the government and are not independent findings by 247NewsCheck.